


an inhuman race

by jasperjorgen



Series: stand and watch it burn [5]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M, the lightsaber trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 04:37:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6456139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasperjorgen/pseuds/jasperjorgen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>an elegant weapon, a civilized age. the General's ambitions can be fulfilled with what Ren possesses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	an inhuman race

At such an hour, who would be occupying the base’s training center besides the most dedicated general and the most dauntless knight? At the top of the stairs, Hux waits for the occupant to leave, ostensibly studying a console manual, but rereads the same lines as he steals glances at the sight that is Ren. 

The red streak of plasma darts in and out. Ren wields it like a third arm, spinning like a sandstorm, eventually skewering a robe-clad dummy through its cotton-stuffed heart in a dramatic display. Hux, too, had trained with a sword, despite his preference for the simple blaster, but Ren’s tangible saber skill was only the surface of his real ability. He possessed an ocean of power that Hux earned for himself by the drop, and abilities he could only dream of– _ space itself _ warped under his fingers and reacted to his touch and his thought. His mind like an electric hive that could reach and ensnare and  _ manipulate _ . In his presence, Hux is almost awestruck– awestruck until the Knight singes off a slice of his own hair with the edge of the crossguard that swipes near his face. 

It’s almost delightful to witness Ren glance so furtively at him, where he’d cracked a smile at Ren’s attempt to compose himself. Annoyed, he snaps, “Excuse me, General?” and glares as Hux tucks away the manual and descends.

“Take it as a sign that you’ve overstayed your time,” Hux tells him.

Ren doesn’t answer and rights the fallen mannequin with a lazy hand gesture. Hux, though, shows no surprise, and makes his way to the console to input his own commands.

“Don’t oust me from my own training center,” Ren warns.

“It’s mine as well, which should be apparent to you,” replies Hux. “I’d like to do some blaster training, and I doubt you’re intent on getting gunned in the face.” 

Ren is unfazed, shrugging casually, and suggests “Let’s do something different this time,” to the General’s back.

When he continues with a “Come here,” Hux stops typing and actually turns at his beckoning. Never before one to bend to Ren’s wishes, he must be enticed to do so by some quality of Ren’s voice, or his own momentary propensity towards lenience or curiosity?– the Sith are also known for their ability to wreck volition, so that must be it. Perhaps too trustingly, he approaches Ren’s side until he’s face-to-face with clumpy eyelashes, tangled hair, a gawkish Adam’s apple.

Ren leans over and places the lightsaber hilt in Hux’s hand, fingers overlapping his. As a testament to his own possessiveness, he doesn’t let go, but activates it while awkwardly half-encircling Hux with his arm. Two crossguards and a blade snake out twitchingly; weightless, but Hux still has to steady his hand against Ren’s. He drinks in the sight, caught between the steadily-breathing knight and the shivering saber.

And he could swear, for a second, that it speaks to him in an imperceptible murmur. It sounds like magnetism and quiet power and the  _ galaxy _ clamped within a vise. He lurches forward, just a little, to claim it and embrace it, when Ren switches it off and slides it out of his grasp.

“What a distraction,” he remarks serenely, though Hux can’t tell whether he’s referring to him, the saber, or himself. 

“Might I implore you to allow me to my own training, Ren?” Hux says, and the thanks are implied.

“Of course.”

As Kylo retreats and exits, Hux uneasily withdraws his training blaster, barely able to repress his shudder at the recollection of the heartless power he saw– he  _ saw–  _ that departed so quickly. Just as in the lightning storms of his inclement homeworld, something brilliant had been revealed to him before disappearing, leaving him more wanting than before in Ren’s embrace.

  
  



End file.
